bullet points (of time)

  • TODAY, we are almost completely out of groceries. We ate the last piece of fruit in our house this morning for breakfast, along with the last pieces of our last loaf of bread (yes, the ends too)..
  • TOMORROW, we are meeting with a lady who spent a few years RV'ing full-time with her husband. We are also going to put our house up for rent, publish more listings on Craigslist, respond to e-mails, ETC. [That "etc." deserves to be in caps].
  • bullet points (of time) 2LAST NIGHT (like every night), Tim & I talked about the risks involved in theĀ Give Every Day venture...the what-ifs, the don't-forget-to-do-that's, and the what-about-???.
  • THIS MORNING (like every morning), we felt a deep, mysterious peace that seemed to whisper from somewhere far away, "Everything's going to be okay."

It may be a little quiet here for a few days as we dive in deep to prepare for the giving tour (tentative plan is to leave in January!).

Do you grocery shop on a particular day of the week (or do you go spontaneously when your cupboards get bare)? Do you shop at the same store every week (or do you vary your route)?

* Also - We are looking for new chapter book recommendations. Have any?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

47 comments on “bullet points (of time)”

  1. we just read the giraffe, the pelly and me by Roald Dahl - the girls thought it was silly. stewart little is great too!
    little house on the pararie (HOW do you spell that?) and mercy wilson books are so funny!
    my 7 year old loves the puppy place series, about a family that is a foster family to dogs. but that may be old for your girls.

  2. I'm trying to grocery shop every two weeks (it takes forever to shop with a baby in tow, so I might as well load up while I'm there!). I also find I'm spending less if I'm going less often. I reluctantly shop at Wal-Mart, as the other grocery store near me (Bi-Lo) is unimpressive and way overpriced. There's a beautiful Publix that is 25 minutes away via interstate, and that just seems silly to me.

    Grocery options are my biggest (and really only) disappointment about Chattanooga, so far.

  3. I can't remember if you've read Anne of Green Gables, but that might be a good addition to your list--at least the first one. And I have to recommend the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. My mom read them to me all the time and I re-read them at least once a year. (She's my hero!) Some of them might be over a 3-year-old's head, but the first three books would be great. And maybe the Borrowers...I haven't read that one in awhile, but I remember enjoying it.

  4. I love grocery shopping. I usually plan 2 weeks worth of meals and shop for those, although it usually ends up lasting 3-4 weeks because of all the leftovers. So I make one or two big trips a month and then small trips for milk and whatnot probably once a week.

    Can't wait for January!

  5. I tend to grocery shop on Monday mornings when my store isn't super busy. Unfortunately right now I have to shop at Walmart b/c they will ad match and it's the best way for us to stay within budget without wasting gas running to the 10+ stores that I have them match. I normally don't get our produce from there though (it always is really gross looking and molds fast if I do buy it). I typically go to SuperTarget (because it's within walking distance to our house) or Hy-Vee (because they customer service is awesome there).

  6. My grocery routine varies, but I usually like to go every couple of weeks or so. Sometimes, I will wait until we have only a few random things left in the panty and then see how creative I can get with a meal. Sometimes it works great, and sometimes my husband begs me to go get groceries, because my creation was not so good.:)

  7. Hey girl, it's been more than a year, but you were on my heart so I came to look for you!!! How are you? What is going on? Looks like I need to read your blog...things are rough?

    I will be praying for you. Love and hugs, Julianne

    PS...no certain grocery shopping day and sticking to the budget is getting more difficult...we are not spending more than we are bringing in for the first time in our lives. We are going to have to try to get into a smaller and cheaper home since the prices on everything keep going up. :(

  8. We're reading Stuart Little right now. I'll chime in on recommending the little house series, The Borrowers was great too and I remember loving Black Beauty and all the other horse books. Also A Little Princess. We just picked up I, Freddy - from the Golden Hamster Saga Series at the bookstore because Sugar saw the cover and begged for it to be her book for the day - it's a cute story too. These might be a little old for your wee ones (and mine) but my sister and I both enjoy the Redwall series by Bryan Jacques - it's sci-fi/fantasy and in the independent reader section at the bookstore.

    As for the grocery store - I usually go twice a week, because we drink so much milk... I keep running out :)

  9. We get vegetables and dairy / eggs delivered once a week so I pretty much always have something in the house or about to arrive. My #1 sanity saver because then I never HAVE to go to the store.

    We also get flour delivered once every couple of months. I could get bread and a few other things from the dairy people but we didn't like their product. I do a lot of canning too and freeze a lot of berries that we pick during the summer. It's my dream to get our grocery shopping down to once a month or so - we're at about every two weeks right now.

    1. Where do you get the vegetables, eggs, and flour delivered from? A local farm? It sounds like a wonderful arrangement.

  10. once a week on the weekends for groceries unless a major need comes up during the week - like running out of toilet paper or something.

    i loved the little house on the prairie books growing up. i also like brian jacques' redwall books. his characters are all animals and have fun accent/dialects of speaking that your girls would probably like.

    sorry about the bad typing - ive only one hand at the moment due to baby napping

  11. So glad Little Miss liked those books:) I have to chime in on all the "Little House" series & any of the Margaurite Henry books (Misty of Chincoteague, etc.). I especially loved "King of the Wind" and she has "Brighty" about a Grand Canyon donkey. Let me know if you want to borrow any of those... I still have mine. Speaking of borrowing- I remember a series about "The Borrowers" that I loved as a kid- not sure who they are by... and yes- Stuart Little too!
    I grocery shop with the girls about 1x a week and we periodically do a "grocery cleanse" ;)- use up all the food in the house- sometimes it is nice to start fresh! I am figuring out a routine w/ staples & basics from target where they seem cheaper and then produce and special stuff from Traders Joes or grocery. I like to do a monthly rotational sort of thing...
    So glad you all are hearing that peaceful voice- Everything will be more than okay! God bless your family.

  12. Okay... I tend to grocery shop on Thurs/Fri - not b/c I WANT to (I prefer Mon/Tues) but b/c the stores in our area have "special" sales Wed-Sat. So... if I want something in one of those sales, I plan accordingly.

    Chapter books: Have you tried Trumpet of the Swan? Stuart Little? Misty of Chincoteague (AND, after reading, in your travels you should try to go to Chincoteague, VA for the last Thursday in July and see the Pony Penning for yourselves! I have been about a half dozen times. It's so fun!)

  13. My hubby and I always shop on Saturday morning. We always go to Trader Joe's, Target and Whole Foods and about once a month we go to Costco. We are thinking about not renewing our membership to Costco but aren't sure yet. I love getting my pictures developed at Costco but now that we live in a larger area Costco is a little busy for our liking.

    I remember loving "the Trumpet of the Swan" when I was in elementary school.

  14. We shop randomly buy try never to run out of staples like bread & milk.

    How about Heidi, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Pollyanna? Oh and there's a great one called "Tottie" about dolls who are secretly alive (I'm sure it was written way before Toy Story though lol). I'd read through it first though because it seems like something scary happened-maybe one of the dolls was wax & melted? Anyway I liked it as a kid. And don't forget about Narnia!!

  15. We menu plan with Knock Knock items and keep a running list of things we're out of during the week. We make the menu on Sunday and go shopping that afternoon!

  16. My girls love the Little House series. In fact my eight year was Laura Ingalls for Halloween last year and wants to be her again this year! Also, My Wierd School series is very fun -Miss Daisy is Crazy, Ms. Hannah is Bananas etc... My girls think Junie B. Jones is hilarious but she's a little sassy for me!

    I am not organized at all about my grocery shopping. I try to shop for several days but my husband also grocery shops and we're not very coordinated about it. Something to put on our "to work on" list! I do always shop at the same two stores, though....

  17. I recommend Gulliver's Travels! It's an easy read (we finished a few short days) but very interesting for kids! The adventures and the little people and the travels...very fun and imaginative. We now play "Liliputan" regularly in our house.

    I shop every other week for dried goods and bulk items at the same stores (TJs or Whole Foods) and we get a produce box (community supported agriculture) weekly so that cuts down on a lot of costs and trips to the store. I HAVE to cook what I have from the produce box, so I'm not inventing things to eat (and hence shop for) as the week goes by. It's my best time/money/sanity/health saving tip!

    I love the peace that God brings to our anxious hearts...it's such a blessing. God Bless!

  18. I'm so excited to hear about your upcoming adventures.....I think about your family often and love how you guys are following the Spirit.

  19. For chapter books, check out the Thornton Burgess animal stories. Charming stories that had my kids giggling all the way through.

  20. First, this made me laugh out loud: ETC. [That "etc." deserves to be in caps].

    We go grocery shopping ALL THE TIME. I like fresh fruit and, other than apples, most get gross after a few days. Our son seems to enjoy grocery shopping and I like it too, so I'm not complaining! We have a lot of really great grocery stores around so we vary our route. Our favorites are Target for the basics, a local Trader-Joe's type store for organic stuff, and a typical grocery store for meat.

    My mom got a bunch of "Happy Hollister" books at a rummage sale when my sister and I were young. She read those books when she was in elementary school. I remember liking them. I also loved the American Girl books growing up, and they are a nice history lesson too.

    Good luck with everything on your to-do list!

  21. We could be out of bread and milk and everything else. But if we're out of fruit I panic! I need fruit. My kids need fruit. It's kind of a must around here. But I've totally been where you're at. Too much to do to run to the grocery store and deal with all its madness. Is there a company that delivers groceries in Tucson? We have one here and everyone tells me it's only about $5 more than an average trip. Sounds like a great option when you're in a pinch or just don't want to leave the house. I think it would be great for the weeks right after a baby is born.

    I'm so excited for your adventure to begin. I hope you get most of your to-dos finished so that you can enjoy the Christmas season. Our family is definitely keeping your family in our prayers!

    1. We are the same way about fruit! I scurry off to the grocery store in a hurry when we're out. ;)

      Unfortunately, we live too far out of the city for the grocery stores to deliver. Oh well! We'll be out on the open road soon enough...and we'll have all kinds of different grocers to explore then (can't wait).

    1. I'm glad you brought up "Little Women." It's such a classic, but...perhaps...a little too mature for a 4-year-old? I'll have to save that in my list of books for future years. Thank you!

  22. We shop together when we both have an evening free. That means we rotate the days, but we always go to the same store. It's a store that constantly disappoints us in terms of availability of items, but it is closest to our house!!

    Black Beauty if my next recommendation. I remember loving it when I was pretty young!

  23. We usually shop on the same day every week (Wed - when the new sales start!) And I meet up with my sister, because shopping's just much more fun when you have a sister to chat with (and more adventurous when we have 5 kids under 5 between us!) It's really convenient too, that I can run one child to the bathroom, and leave the others with her, instead of cramming all of us into a bathroom stall at once!

    On chapter books...I think I may have already recommended this on in the past, but both Sam & I loved "My Father's Dragon" when we read it last year - it's so whimsical & clever. And like some others have mentioned, he loved the Boxcar children books too (though I found them rather corny). "The Hundred Dresses" was a sweet one, with a great message. Some of the titles we're excited to read this year as part of our homeschool curriculum are: "Henry Huggins", "Homer Price", "Mr. Popper's Penguins", and "Understood Betsy".

  24. we were all obsessed with my mom reading all of the Boxcar Children books (all gazillion of them!) and the Little House on the Prairie series (of course all of those Ramona books too!) But I don't know what's appropriate for your teeny tiny girls!? My mom or dad would read to us every single night...like....forever. It was so nice. I'm glad other people read to their kiddos too (honestly, I don't have many friend's whose parents read to them....I always felt sorta sorry for them.)

    1. Thanks for the reminder! I need to add those ones to our library list.

      {What will we do without a library card on our RV adventure?!?} ;)

  25. We pretty much always go twice a week and to the same store...sometimes it varies which days - Wednesday or Saturday/Sunday normally, but it just depends on status of our frig. Hope you have a GREAT day today!!!

    1. We typically go about twice a week too (often to different stores). It's hard to keep fresh produce in our house so usually need to go more than once a week to replenish our supply! :)

  26. I picked up a collection of Ramona books to give Riley for Christmas based on your recommendation. I think I mentioned before that we're reading the American Girl books, and she has really liked those. A friend recommended Junie B. Jones to us, but they were a little too sassy for my taste. She also loved The Secret Garden, as well as a long version of Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

    I'd like to introduce Riley to some of the Newbery winners that I enjoyed as a kid. I remember liking Summer of the Swan, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, A Wrinkle in Time, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Some of those might be too mature, though. I'll have to check them out before starting them with her. The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel might be good. Just please, avoid Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. That one TERRIFIED me when I was in grade school.

    1. I keep forgetting about the American Girl books! I need to add those to our list.

      I'd love to read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" to her (I remember liking that one as a young girl), but - as you mentioned - it may be a bit too mature for her age. I'll have to read the reviews on Amazon to refresh my memory.

  27. We're reading Tumtum and Nutmeg. Very cute! A little bit over the 3 year old's head still, but he's actually sitting still for it so we'll get there I think!

    I pretty much shop at the same place all the time unless I'm looking for a particular thing I know is carried only at another store. I'm really trying to get to shopping only once a week because it seems the more often I go in the more money I spend... :( But that requires planning too...

MetropolitanMama - See The World, One City at a Time
©2024 Metropolitan Mama - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram